Lately, you’ve heard us talk a lot of privacy, but this week we’re letting someone else do the talking.
Our friends at Pro Privacy have provided us with the best private search engines that are anonymous and make a great Google alternative.
Wait, so what does Google know about me?
Most search engines try to learn as much about you as possible, to deliver highly targeted advertising directly to your browser window.
Information typically collected and stored each time you make a search includes:
- Your IP address
- Date and time of the query
- Query search terms
- Cookie-ID – this cookie is deposited in your browser’s cookie folder, and uniquely identifies your computer. With it, a search engine provider can trace a search request back to your computer.
This information is usually transmitted to the requested web page, and to the owners of any third party advertising banners displayed on that page
An added benefit of using a search engine that does not track you is that it avoids the “filter bubble” effect. Most search engines use your past search terms (and things you “Like” on social networks) to profile you. They can then return results they think will interest you.
This can result in only receiving search returns that agree with your point of view, and this locks you into a “filter bubble,” where you do not get to see alternative viewpoints and opinions because they have been downgraded in your search results.
Here are the best private search engines that are anonymous and make a great Google alternative.
These privacy search engines promise not to log your IP address or any searches you make.
They usually leverage the big search engines in order to return results, but proxy search requests so that Google or Yahoo or Microsoft do not know who did the search. In other words, these see only that the search query came from the privacy search engine.
- DuckDuckGo – The most popular private search engine
- SearX – An open-source search engine that guarantees no logs
- Disconnect Search – Privacy-oriented extension that works with your favourite browser
- StartPage – A user-friendly search engine if you don’t mind ads
- Peekier – A service to watch thanks to its radically different approach
Click here to learn more about each of these search engines in-depth.
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